National Applejack Month!

I'll be you didn't know that this month is National Applejack Month! You may be thinking...a month to celebrate Apple Jacks - the deliciously sweet breakfast cereal - that's funny. However, it's actually a celebration of applejack, which is one of the earliest forms of hard cider.

Apparently, John Chapman - or Johnny Appleseed, as he was more commonly known - didn't plant the delicious tasting apples we commonly attribute to him. He planted orchards with sour apples so settlers could make applejack.

Since it is National Applejack month, I thought I would share an apple cider (sorry, I don't know any applejack ones!) recipe with you to enjoy as the weather begins to cool. Make it a world-class day and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

8 cups pressedApple Juice/Cider (not from concentrate)

1 orange, cut into 1/4″ slices

3 cinnamon sticks

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1 tablespoon cloves

1 inch piece of ginger cut into coin sized slices

1/4 cup brown sugar *optional spiced Rum

DIRECTIONS:

Place all the ingredients into a large pot and bring to boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain cider before serving. Enjoy! *For a Spiked version, add a shot of spiced rum to each glass